Breslin Bound: Girls Report Week 7
January 21, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Girls basketball teams are facing the final month of their regular seasons and for most a second run through a familiar slate of opponents.
Teams on this week's list are among those that took big steps last week toward finishing that slate strong as the tournament awaits at the end of February.
1. Frankfort (9-0, Class D) – The Panthers have returned to the elite in Class D and are on their way to besting last season’s 13-10 finish by the end of this month.
2. Pewamo-Westphalia (9-0, Class C) – The Pirates defeated rival Laingsburg on Friday to take over first place alone in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference.
3. Southgate Anderson (9-1, Class A) – The Titans are tops in the Downriver League, with their lone loss to solid Class B Eaton Rapids last month.
4. Wyoming (8-2, Class A) – The Wolves handed Coopersville its first league loss this season to take hold of the top spot alone in the O-K Blue.
5. McBain (8-2, Class C) – The Ramblers have stormed back with four straight wins after losing twice at the Motor City Roundball Classic and lead the Highland Conference by half a win.
6. Kingsley (8-3, Class B) – The Stags did fall to Frankfort on Friday, but should keep pace and could get another chance to play for a piece of the title.
7. Frankenmuth (7-3, Class B) – The Eagles absorbed a loss as well at the Roundball Classic, but have won six of their last seven and lead the Tri-Valley Conference East.
8. Manistee (8-0, Class B) – Playing as an independent is allowing the Chippewas to take on – and this season defeat – schools of various sizes from multiple conferences.
9. Waterford Kettering (8-1, Class A) – Kettering has won six straight and took the lead in the KLAA North with a four-point win over Waterford Mott last week.
10. Pickford (6-3, Class D) – The Panthers have rebounded from a 1-3 start to move into a tie for first in the Eastern Upper Peninsula Athletic Conference.
PHOTO: Waterford Kettering, here against Freeland last month, has won six straight to improve to 8-1 this winter. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Jokela Caps LL-H Career As 3-Sport Star, Among Track's Most Accomplished Greats
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 26, 2025
ESCANABA — It would nearly be an understatement to say Emily Jokela has enjoyed a stellar high school athletic career.
The recent Lake Linden-Hubbell graduate earned a dozen victories at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals during her prep career, winning the 400-meter dash and 300 hurdles four times apiece, taking the 100 dash three times, adding a 200 title as a sophomore and 100 hurdles championship this spring.
Jokela also owns the all-time U.P. Finals record in the 300s at 44.8 seconds and the UPD3 record in the 400 (58.61) set a year ago – with school records in those events as well.
“I started running in fifth grade and fell in love with hurdling,” she said. “All my events were close together. I do weight training four times a week and sometimes go to the Michigan Tech track to get a break from our asphalt surface. The asphalt track is harder on the legs. It’s nice to get on a rubberized track.”
She concluded her prep basketball career here June 12 by leading the West All-Stars past the East, 50-41, at the 39th Annual Upper Peninsula All-Star Basketball Game.
Jokela, who scored 18 points in her final prep hoops appearance at Bay College, was selected Most Valuable Player. She finished her Lake Linden-Hubbell basketball career with a school-record 2,010 points, leading the Lakes through a 17-7 season this winter and earning an all-U.P. Division 4 first-team honor.
Jokela did double-duty this spring, also as a pitcher in softball. Lake Linden-Hubbell went undefeated in the Copper Mountain Conference (10-0) and finished 28-7 overall after dropping a 2-0 decision to Gogebic (Bessemer/Wakefield-Marenisco’s cooperative team) in their Division 4 Regional Final.
“I started playing basketball and softball at a young age,” she said. “I made some of my best friends in basketball. I’m going to miss all the girls I played with for four years. I’m so proud of how far we went in softball. I’m also very happy with how basketball went and quite happy with the way our track & field season went.”
LL-H brought home the Division 3 runner-up trophy from the U.P. Track & Field Finals at Kingsford by scoring 76 points, just eight fewer than Newberry. The Lakes were crowned U.P. champions last season and shared the title with Stephenson in 2023. Jokela was four-time all-state selection and three-time CMC MVP, and scored more than 1,000 points during her career. As a junior she won the 100, 200, 400 and 300 hurdles at the UPD3 championship meet and remains one of only seven girls to win four individuals events at a Finals.
On the basketball court, she was a two-time conference MVP and four-time member of the CMC’s elite team, and selected twice to The Associated Press, Basketball Coaches Association and Detroit Free Press all-state teams. In softball, Jokela was a two-time conference MVP and named CMC Pitcher of the Year.
Jokela earned another high honor in late May, being named her school’s Outstanding Female Athlete. She is bound for Grand Valley State University, where she’ll become a member of the women’s track & field team.
“I met my roommates, and they seem nice,” Jokela said. “It will be a lot more intense in college. I’m really going to have to work hard for everything. I need to work on my endurance. It was a challenge balancing track with softball, but I like being busy.”
Jokela also was a two-time all-state academic selection and a National Honor Society member. After carrying a 3.79 grade point average in high school, she plans to major in health science at Grand Valley.
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTO Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Emily Jokela (5) leaps the final hurdle on the way to an impressive win in the 300 at last month’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals in Kingsford. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)